Hans, Crown Prince of Denmark

I realize this question has been posed before, but it didn't really go anywhere, so I'm gonna ask it again.

What might have happened with Crown Prince Hans of Denmark (b. 1518) (brother to the more famous Duchess of Milan) if he had lived? He was the son of a Catholic father and a mother who reportedly was attracted to the Reformation (the Hapsburgs deny this and claim she died a convinced Catholic). His one sister married a Catholic (Christine, Duchess of Milan and Lorraine) while another married a Protestant (Dorothea, Electress Palatine).

Unfortunately he died young, but what sort of man might he have grown into, who and where would he have married (Catholic or Protestant)? Would he have ever gone on to reconquer Denmark et al if he'd had the right backing? Or is he destined to remain maybe an Imperial or Spanish governor of a province - like the Netherlands - and slip into history as a shadowy figure few remember; or maybe be the centre of a sort of Jacobite/Bourbon court in exile?
 
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No interest?:(

IMHO Hans is like Duarte, Duke of Guimraes, constantly passed over and forgotten about in AltHistory. Maybe that's because he didn't really live long enough to make a significant impact.
 
No interest?:(

IMHO Hans is like Duarte, Duke of Guimraes, constantly passed over and forgotten about in AltHistory. Maybe that's because he didn't really live long enough to make a significant impact.

Not sure exactly what you are expecting of the young Hans? In what way dop you see him as a significant figure for the kingdom and how does him being a protestant really change anyhting? The reformation in Demark happend around 1536, meaning that Hans would be about 16 at the time.
 
I didn't specify that he was/must be Protestant, simply that his mother (much like her sister, Mary, Queen of Hungary) was attracted to the Reformation.

But, in the earlier thread on him, it was pointed out that Karl V never paid the full sum of Isabella's dowry (250 000 guilders), and although he toyed with the idea of marching an army North to restore Christian, found himself distracted time and again.

Perhaps the Pope sees Hans as a sort of Mary Tudor figure (who will/can restore Denmark to the true faith), and persuades the Emperor to back him (just a crazy idea)
 
frankly i think there are places that the Pope is more concerned about closer to home ... say Upper/Lower Saxony where Protestantism was also quite the rage
 
Who might make a suitable consort for Hans? An Austrian archduchess/Portuguese infanta? A German lady (Anne of Cleves perhaps?)? Or someone allied with the French (given Denmark's Scots connection to the Auld Alliance)?
 
I think the best match for Hans is Mary Tudor, his sister is married to Henry VIII.

Which sister is married to Henry VIII? AFAIK, Christina gave the famous answer of "if I had two heads, one should be at the king's disposal. Alas, I have only this one" to an English suit.
 
What was the age of majority in the Kalmar realms, since one would think that the logical move would be depose Christian II = crown Hans II. Though who might the regent be? Isabella (mother) or Frederik (great-uncle)?

Why was this idea never considered?
 
What was the age of majority in the Kalmar realms, since one would think that the logical move would be depose Christian II = crown Hans II. Though who might the regent be? Isabella (mother) or Frederik (great-uncle)?

Why was this idea never considered?

Probably the same reason that existed when Gustav IV was deposed and his son was passed over: a fear that the son would take revenge for the father once he came of age.
 
Probably the same reason that existed when Gustav IV was deposed and his son was passed over: a fear that the son would take revenge for the father once he came of age.



And because he didn't live quite long enough.

Iirc when Frederick I died in 1533 the throne was vacant for a year while they argued over whether to crown his son or restore Christian II. That suggests to me that Hans, if still alive, might have had a good chance of becoming a compromise choice.
 
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And because he didn't live quite long enough.

Iirc when Frederick I died in 1533 the throne was vacant for a year while they argued over whether to crown his son or restore Christian II. That suggests to me that Hans, if still alive, might have had a good chance of becoming a compromise choice.

Okay, so he survives whatever it was that killed him. Does he marry before or after his election? Since obviously a bona fide king/crown prince will probably marry differently to a crown prince with no crown to inherit.

Also, what might be needed (besides his survival) to allow him to be a successfully elected candidate?
 
What might have happened with Crown Prince Hans of Denmark (b. 1518) (brother to the more famous Duchess of Milan) if he had lived?
what sort of man might he have grown

Hans/John was the elder nephew of Charles V; he was about ten years older than the other cousins survived to infancy, and for this reason would not have been able to share the education and training with them, unlike the bond that they lived, for example, the two cousins Philip II and Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy.
He grew up in the Habsburg Netherlands and his uncle Charles V would continue to take care of his training, doing him a brilliant prince of the Renaissance, handsome and cultured

Hans/John, fourteen-years-old, died at Charles V's house in Regensburg, a Free Imperial City in Bavaria, where meanwhile the Emperor took him. Charles V has really loved the nephew. His death shocked him. This snatched at him, says Karl Brandi, «pitiful accents of tenderness which rarely we usually hear from him». In a touching letter to his sister Maria as he mourns the beloved boy, wrote: «He was the dearest boy I knew. And I suffered his death like than if he was a my true child. Because I considered him as this, and he was already large and in deep intimacy with me. The will of God, although it was possible to dispose that this could happen everywhere, but now it pains me very that i lost him while he was here with me. [...] The little brat is gone where he is certainly better than us. He died without sin and so that even if it had been charged by the my, eternal salvation would certainly assured to him: the moment of death has yet invoked the name of Jesus».
To get an idea of the education and the character that could have Hans/John, it is necessary to see which was the family environment in which would grow.

Christian II, celebrated as a hero by the Danes and called «Bondekär» (he who loves the farmer), in Sweden became known as «Kristian Tyrann» (Christian the Tyrant).
When the 32-year-old Christian II of Denmark assumed the thrones, he had a clearly defined program, which makes it one of the most important principles of Europe Nordic. He wanted to bring together all of North in a stable political unit, held together by a strong royal power, which had to be supported by non-privileged classes. Very soon he revealed a spirit awake and independent, but also inconsistency and poor balance; it was certainly a man highly endowed, full of ideas, eager to implement them, which produced a strong impression on those who knew him closely; and many of those who adhered to its policy, later showed themselves ready to follow him in the days of bad luck. But he was also very suspicious by nature, he imagined to have enemies everywhere not met unconditional support, raising new oppositions and increasing obstacles to his work as king. Officials nobles were dismissed a bit at a time and the popular elements have taken their place. Openly Christian strove to put a trusted person in all the important places of the state and of the church. He also improved the social position of farmers: forbade to the nobles to sell their employees, and in his constant trips through the country, the King much worked for the people of the countryside, buying great love among his subjects. Even more interest the King proved for the bourgeoisie. Understanding well all the benefit that could be derived for his reigns of the existence of a strong middle class and rich cities, Christian has spent himself to promote the increase of domestic trade and reduce the dependence of his countries from foreign markets, especially from the cities of the Hansa. In 1520 Christian founded a company of Nordic trade, for trade between the provinces of the North Sea and the territories east of the Baltic. Knowing the deep distrust that he felt towards the nobles with whom he shared his powers, we understand why he sought helpers between the practice and affluent middle class of Flanders [In June 1521, Christian suddenly visited the Low Countries for some months, visiting most of the large cities and studing commerce and economic status of these rich cities; he also entered into relationships with most typical representatives of the culture of that time (for example Erasmus, with whom he discussed about the Protestant Reformation) and took into his service many Flemish artisans]. Were settled, also, economic arrangements with the bankers Fuggers of Augsburg. In short, it seems you wanted to make the Denmark at the center of Nordic trades and strengthen, even with this medium, the Danish Crown. Innovative reforms were also made in the field of legislation: were promulgated laws in the years 1515-22 to strong humanitarian nature and the administration of justice was centralized. Other reforms restricted the judicial powers of the church for the benefit of the civil jurisdiction.
The grandchildren of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I were regarded at that time "noblest children". On the European marriage market, Isabella of Austria was in high regard. King Christian II was looking, for his politicy, a wife who could provide trade relations, and his choice fell on Isabella. She, on the other hand, came to win the Danish people's heart hastily, had learned quickly the Danish language, and Christian II often consulted his wife, because she was, despite his young age, very politically aware.
On the other hand, the favoritism shown towards his friends, raised to the highest positions, aroused strong indignation in the noble class that Christian had depressed. The old Scandinavian spirit of independence was deeply wounded by the preference given to the Dutch. Furthermore, unfortunately these reforms, excellent in themselves, suggested the standpoint not of an elected ruler, but of a monarch by divine right.
What was the age of majority in the Kalmar realms, since one would think that the logical move would be depose Christian II = crown Hans II. Though who might the regent be? Isabella (mother) or Frederik (great-uncle)?

Why was this idea never considered?

Because:

The serious taxes established to deal with the war against Sweden (1520) had caused great discontent in many parts of Norway and Denmark, also among the peasants. At the end of 1522, the same Danish nebles made alliance with Duke Frederick of Holstein and Schleswig (1471–1533), uncle of Christian, to oust the king. The bishops of Jutland and some noblemen gathered in Viborg and decided to raise against the king, renounced at their allegiance's oath, and offered the Danish crown to the Chistian's uncle. Christian promised to convene a general parliament, in which also the provincial towns and farmers would send their trustees, and where all complaints would be investigated and remedied. But without waiting for this sent, the conspirators bishops and nobles deposed him and proclaimed Duke Frederick of Holstein and Schleswig king on 20 January 1523.
In this critical situation, Christian lost his head. Christian's indecision is best illustrated in that one night he repeatedly sailed back and forth across Lilla Bält (Little Belt) without being able to make a crucial decision.
Frederick I was hailed in Viborg as new king, where Christian's laws publicly burnt up as «harmful and contrary to good morals».
So overwhelming did Christian's difficulties appear, that, even before to reached a open struggle, he left Copenhagen and fled to the Netherlands with his family and a crowd of loyal supporters, in the hope of finding help.
In September 1524 the Dutch regent Margaret of Austria, Isabella's aunt, wrote to Emperor Charles V: «I see little probability that they ever return to their kingdoms, if not God and you come to their aid, which I humbly beseech you. The poor queen, however, is your sister and her small children are your children. So much more I am committed to helping them in their adversity».
Only the intervention of Charles V could put him again on the throne.

Meanwhile, in 1524 and 1525 Frederick I of Denmark had to suppress revolts among the peasants in Jutland and Scania who demanded the restoration of Christian II.
Frederick I of Denmark, needing of the Catholic support, promised to crush the Lutherans. But, ignoring his promises, had placed his loyal supporters in the most strategically important castles and he appointed reformers to vacant church positions. Hans Tausen, the first Lutheran to preach openly in Denmark, did so under a letter of protection from the king. When the bishops complained, Frederick replied that «the king governs life and property but not the soul».
Christian II led a relatively humble life in exile, waiting for military help from his reluctant brother-in-law, the Emperor Charles V. In the meantime, some Danes, primarily peasants and commoners, remembering him as a social saviour, wish for his restoration.
He was the son of a Catholic father and a mother who reportedly was attracted to the Reformation (the Hapsburgs deny this and claim she died a convinced Catholic)

In truth:

Christian and his wife Isabella travelled to the Netherlands and around Germany in an attempt to gain help for their restoration to the throne. They visited Saxony in 1523 and Berlin in 1523–1524. In Wittenberg, they became interested in the teachings of Luther, with whom then Christian corresponded for some time, and felt sympathy for Protestantism; Christian even became a Lutheran, instead Isabella never converted officially. Luther preached often for the royal couple in the Castle Church in Wittenberg and wrote in a letter to a friend: «God, whom into heaven, will have perhaps a rare piece of game, namely a king and a queen, or a king, you least could hope for him. So wonderful is God in that man's thoughts». When Isabella visited Nuremberg at time of the Diet in 1524, however, she received communion in the Protestant form, which so enraged her birth family, the Habsburgs, that Christian decided that she should hide her Protestant views in the future, for political reasons.
When Ferdinand heard about it that Isabella has participated in a Lutheran service and has received the sacrament (in Nuremberg she lived next to his brother), he was furious and declared that he wished that she was not his sister.
Isabella died in January 1526, aged twenty-four. She asked to receive the Catholic communion on her deathbed and that her children were taken away to Christian, so as not to be raised as lutherans.
Christian was eager to get back in power. He renounced his Lutheran faith in 1530 so that he could gain the support of the Catholic Church, gather an army and march to conquer Norway, and thus received support by his brother-in-law the Emperor Charles V.
When Frederick I died, Denmark's Catholics revolted and the attempt by their lay allies to initiate a Catholic resurgence in Denmark, was warmly welcomed also by the leaders of the Norwegian church beacause, during the first years of the 1530s, the Frederick I's passivity had encouraged the Lutheran people to attack monasteries and churches.
The Council of the Realm was not able to come to an agreement on who should be the new king (a Roman Catholic majority preferred John (1521–1580), the Frederick's 12-year-old second son, while a minority supported the first-born Christian, who as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein had introduced Lutheranism there during the 1520s) and the election of a new king was postponed for a year due to this disagreement.
In this situation, due to the discontent against the nobility, many citizens, from Malmö and Copenhagen along with peasants, especially from northern Jutland, rally around exiled King Christian II, who took advantage of the unrest and issued propaganda writings, agitating for himself the rights to the Danish Crown.
I think the best match for Hans is Mary Tudor, his sister is married to Henry VIII.

An English marriage would be very unpopular in Denmark.

Hostilities between England and Denmark/Norway were broke out beacuse English merchants had continued to trade with Iceland, although trade with the Norwegian colonies was a crown monopoly. In 1490 a treaty was made with England making trade with Iceland free for seven years. Following a war with the Hanseatic cities, a favorable peace was made in 1512, and the Hanseatic naval supremacy in the North was lost. A powerful navy was establishend by John. Upon the death of King John in 1513, Christian II complained to King Henry VIII of England interference with Iceland trade. In 1515, however, the treaty of 1490 with England was renewed.
Even the relations with the Scots were not the best, and found a solution only at the time of the marriage of James VI (also because Denmark needed allies against Sweden).

His one sister married a Catholic (Christine, Duchess of Milan and Lorraine) while another married a Protestant (Dorothea, Electress Palatine).

The situation is not just "one has married a Catholic, the other a Protestant", white or black.
After the death of his only son and heir, the fifty-one-years-old widower King Christian II now had remained only two daughters, Dorothea and Christina; contrariwise, Christian's uncle, King Frederick in his court in Gottorp has four living male children.
But Cristian was not surrender and was concerned about starting a clever marriage policy for his daughters, undoubtedly meant to play a role also in Habsburg politics.

The Emperor Charles V selected Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, to be Christina's consort; the marriage contract was signed in Barcelona on 10 June 1533, the news of the marriage by proxy came at the court of Milan on 13 October (Christina married by proxy on 28 September 1533 with the Emperor's chief minister Massimiliano Stampa as deputy groom, but Mary of Hungary managed to postpone her departure until 11 March), but only on 3 May 1534 Christina made her grand entrance in Milan and married in person the day after the Duke, who died one year later leaving her widowed when she was thirteen.
For Dorothea, was began negotiation for his marriage with James V of Scotland [this negotiation, and those for Catherine de'Medici, the Duchess of Urbino, and for Mary of Austria, Dowager Queen of Hungary and sister of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, were plans thinked by James for to remind at King Francis I of France his obligations, clauses of the Treaty of Rouen and of the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland: a French royal bride], but was selected the Prince-elector Frederick of the Palatinate, as it believed that he could successfully received support to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish thrones through marriage. She married Frederick on 29 September 1535 in Heidelberg.
Christina's first marriage (see the article of Gino Benzoni).

Arrived in Milan on the evening of 10 March 1533 to leave the 14, Charles V hinted to Francesco Sforza the idea of a marriage with his niece, daughter of his sister Isabella and Christian II of Denmark. Of course, the imperial "nod" was for Francesco Sforza an order to obey. And, restarted Emperor, the ministers of the Duke compiled the conditions of marriage, accepted by Francesco on 7 April. Only that Francesco believed that was destined to him Dorothea, the eldest daughter of the King of Denmark. The girl destined to him (and this was becomed clear at a later time, after that the Duke has took the commitment) was the second daughter, Christina. Francesco, at the beginning «very angry» for the exchange, he was desappointed, but finally has accepted while continuing to complain. «I did it - he writes to the imperial ministers, making them responsible for the misunderstanding (and so avoiding blame to the emperor) - against my opinion, but in these public things I want that my volition give in the opinion of others, since my fate wants me to be the last of my house». What matters was that he was no longer alone, that he could generate a legitimate child. With severe cynicism Charles V wrote, on 31 July, at his sister Mary, governor of the Netherlands, with whom she lived the girl: Sure, «as to the person» - the aspect of Francesco - appars puzzling since «kind of strange». But «the head of the body is better" - it is clear that Charles V not refers to the anatomical structure of the Duke but at his mind - «is correct, it is said». Shocked, Mary responded, on 25 August, at the brother that «according to the law she» (Christina) does not have the age to mate «and according to the natural law this is rightly in first place against the marriage». Unscratchable was the determination of Charles V. The marriage was to be done. As for the age, replied vulgarly to Mary on 22 September, «I fear more that it will be "too big" for the duke... than for our niece». The Emperor had granted a generous dowry to her in return to her renounce at paternal and maternal inheritance, unless she has succeeded to her sister in the three kingdoms of the Union. In this case Christine would have to repay the dowry. With this marriage the Emperor had not only wanted prevented that France attacked the Milanese area, but had also ensured that if the marriage between the Duke and his child bride would remained childless, the Duchy would go into the hands of Emperor. Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan, in October 1535, fell ill. Now, his fate was sealed. He died, in fact, in Milan, in the castle of Porta Giovia, in the night between 1 and 2 November 1535 of "malignant fever". 19 days after was held the impressive funeral of the Duke. With Francesco Sforza is extinguished well as the independence of the Duchy of Milan. Already from 20 November has waved the imperial banner in the capital. And inevitably explodes the conflict between France and Spain.
Christina returned to the Netherlands, where she stayed herself with his aunt the regent Mary, Queen of Hungary.
Why Frederick of the Palatinate as Dorothea's husband?
Frederick was closely linked to the House of Habsburg.

The relationship between Frederick of the Palatine and the Emperor Charles V was throughout life of love and hate.
Frederick spent his youth mainly at the Habsburg court in the Netherlands, where he received the usual for sons of princes of his time courtly education , and visited from here France and Spain, lived in great wasteful; he also became a friend and traveling companion of the Emperor's son, Philip the Fair. Frederick accompanied the emperor Maximilian on the expedition against Venice in 1508.
He was member of the court of the Archduke Charles in Brussels, loved by everyone for his affability and cheerfulness, but in 1516 Charles sent him home full rage because his sister Eleanor turned her heart to him while being arranged her marriage with the old Kings of Portugal. In the Upper Palatinate Frederick administered the government for his nephew Otto Heinrich, and then he was wherever he could in most zealous way for arrange the imperial election of King Charles, whom he long ago forgiven him, and was rewarded with some gold in 1519. Frederick, to whom Charles smiled now and favored, lived with great pomp, and he was in constant want of money and fell into the hands of usurers.
Integrated by youth in the Habsburg imperial politics, he held the office of German Kingdom's governorship in Nuremberg and Speyer, militarily he was called for in the Peasants' War in 1525, in 1529 was Reich Commander against the Turks at Vienna and in 1532 with some success as Colonel General in Hungary. His ambitious claims were not covered from rich remunerations, so that in Amberg he was nicnamed in satirical song as «Friedel with empty pockets».
He moved in France and Spain, but did not get the desired money here and returned immediately discontentedly to Germany. After the victory against the Turks at Vienna in 1529, in vain he hoped for the hand of the young now widowed Queen Mary of Hungary.
Way out from the ongoing financial problems and satisfy his stately representation needs as brilliant cavalier was a significant and rich marriage. Then, Charles V promised him the Danish marriage with Dorothea, the Emperor's niece, with the crown of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a significant gift and great opportunity for the patient man; Frederick, traveled to Spain, was persuaded in Barcelona on 10 April 1535 to sign the marriage contract, engaged on 18 June in Brussels and married in Heidelberg on 26 September 1535. Frederick counted 53 years, Dorothea 15.
Since 1538 he and Dorothy traveled in France and Spain, living at the expense of the Emperor.
From 1543 Frederick left the administration of his brother and the electoral areas, and went to live in a small castle in Amberg. Because his brother Louis V died on 16 March 1544, he became the new Prince-Elector as Frederick II, Count Palatine of the Rhine. From now on, Frederick, from Palatinate to Denmark, from blind servant Habsburg's, for a long time, to regal prince, has chased his costly royal dreams.
In matters of religion, he was formerly known as opposing the Protestants in Augsburg, much that he had in 1530 explained to them the «Confutatio», but soon he approached himself to the Reformation his surroundings in the Palatinate. More often Frederick visited the sermons of the popular Heinrich Stoll, a conciliatory Protestant minister, to make himself popular at the begining, but even no-way favored the new doctrine, because he knew that his support to this religious conviction not caused problems for his Danish desires. Determined was the influence of his wife, Dorothea, influenced with a sympathy for Protestantism, and Frederick himself acquired Protestant sympathies early on. In 1538 he had already given in to pressure in the Upper Palatinate on release of the Protestant faith. In 1541 he presided together with Nicholas de Granvelle the Diet of Regensburg, apparently accompanied by the imperial confidence in his ability to be integrated. In 1543 he finally received together with his wife in Amberg the communion in both kinds. At Easter 1545 Frederick had «taken the chalice» in Heidelberg. He led the Reformation officially in the Palatinate and was therefore outlawed in 1546 by the Emperor. He then submitted completely to the Emperor and thus saved his house and Electorate possessions . With the approval of Pope Julius III, he lifted after 1551 several monasteries in his country and used the monastery to promote the University of Heidelberg.
After the submission of the Protestant princes of the Schmalkaldic League, to which Frederick formally did not belong, he only remained bareheaded, kneeling, to pray for the Emperor's grace, to listen to his sermon to accept the «Augsburg Interim» [a temporary doctrinal agreement between German Catholics and Protestants, which became imperial law; prepared for the insistence of Charles V, the «Interim» allowed clerical marriage and communion in both kinds (bread and wine) for the laity: the Emperor hoped to establish temporary religious unity in Germany until the differences could be worked out in a Council of the Catholic Church. But, only for not to accept a brilliant proposal made by the Emperor, several so biased Protestant electors refused to abide by it and adopted the «Leipzig Interim»] and attend Catholic Mass and Corpus Christi procession. Frederick in his lands sought to establish a "religious calm", allowing religious freedom to preserve religious peace.
Prince-Elector Frederick II of the Palatine died on 26 February 1556.
At his widow Dorothea was assigned Neumarkt as dower-house, where she, formally Catholich, held however until her death in 1580 a protective hand over the Lutheranism of the Upper Palatinate, because in 1566 the Prince-Elector Frederick III converted the Palatinate at the most radical Calvinism.
Christina's second marriage.

Christina's first husband died in 1535. For her fourteen years and for her beauty, she was soon known in all the European courts. She was object of attention from numerous princes: the Duke of Florence, Alexander de' Medici, William Duke of Cleves and the Scottish Duke John of Albany; Count Christopher of Oldenburg (who has combated in favour to restoration of her father), Louis X, Duke of Bavaria, and Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg (whom, ruling together with their older brothers, wanted her but jointly to the possession of the duchy of Milan) courted her, but she all dismissed. Emperor Carl V has firstly thought of marrying her with Duke Charles of Angouleme, King Fracis I's younger son, later with Henry VIII of England, for the third time widower (in connection with such negotiations was realized the portrait of Christina painted by Hans Holbein. The painting gives a strong impression of her beauty and intellectual charisma, for which she at the time was famous); but both attempt missed out for political reasons. It appears although that the young widow has been interested to the Prince of Orange René de Chalons (1519–1544), but by imperial intervention a such union was prevented.
In Brussels, on 10 July 1541, she was finally married to the young Duke Francis I (1517–1545), heir to Lorraine. Francis succeeded his father Antoine as Duke of Lorraine on 14 June 1544.
With his style of dress she formed the mode "à la lorraine", and her many skills and extensive knowledge of the language, music, art and hunting, participating in the great political game, came to her advantage. From this marriage, which she claimed that had made her the happiest woman in the world, was born six children, three of whom died in infancy [Charles (1543–1608), Renata (1544–1602), Dorothea (1545–1621) and Jean, Elisabeth, Antoine (dates uncertain/unknown)].
Christina's political talent and training as well as her intelligence and language skills made her more than suitable to rule the Duchy at her husband's absence and, on the whole, she served as his political adviser.
After a four years of happy marriage, she was again a widow in June 1545, and from now remained unmarried. Duke Francis had leaving in his will Christina as Regent of Lorraine and the guardian of of their young children, jointly including at his brother Nicolas of Lorraine (1524–1577), bishop of Metz and Verdun [Treaty of Deneuvre Castle, 6 August 1545]. However, the Estates of Lorraine, in November 1545, removed him in favor of Christina as sole regent.
Niece of the Emperor Charles V, she obviously adopted a policy favorable to the Holy Empire despite the opposition of the Lorraine nobility and of Nicolas de Lorraine, for seeking to maintain the Lorraine's neutrality. She tried, however, to participate independently in a number of political negotiations.
The survival of Hans/John is not indispensable.
If Cristian II regains his thrones, the matter becomes more interesting if only has two daughters, while the enemy branch of his family is full of males:D:D:D

In May 1534, parts of the Zealand and Skåne nobilities rose up, together with cities such as Copenhagen and Malmö, and this rebellion was followed up by the German Count Christopher of Oldenburg (1504–1566), supported by Lübeck and troops from Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, attacking Holstein. He had been hired by the Mayor of Malmø Jørgen Kock (1487–1556) and the Lübeck's burgomaster Jürgen Wullenwever (1492/93–1537) to conquer Denmark, officially in order to restore King Christian II. The Count's main objective was not Holstein but Zealand where he sailed and he quickly gained control of all Danish territory east of the Store Bält (Great Belt).
Meanwhile also the Danish State Council, dominated by the still Catholic bishops and nobles, refusing to accept Duke Christian (in OTL Christian III) as king, turned to Count Christopher of Oldenburg in order to restore Christian II to the Danish throne.
But on 4 July 1534 the Jutland nobility and councillors met at an assembly in Rye proclaimed the Duke Christian, as King under the name Christian III. Christian was a zealous Protestant who had witnessed the defence of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. Although hesitant, Christian accepted the election (in Horsens) on 18 August 1534 where he declared that he would, like his predecessors, sign a "charter", although with a reform of ecclesiastical affairs, i.e. the implementation of the Protestant Reformation in Denmark.
Count Christopher had the support of most of Zealand, Scania, the Hanseatic League, and the small farmers of northern Jutland and Funen. Christian III found his support among the nobles of Jutland.
We suppose that the fortune not kissed the Lutheran Christian III and his supporters, also the Swedes in his aid.
After the Rantzau's defeat at Aalborg, on 11 June 1535 Christian III was definitively and decisively won and captured in the Battle of Øksnebjerg on the island of Funen (Fyn). With this, the Danish bloody civil war (known as Grevens Fejde) was officially over.
Christian III was kept prisoner in Kalundborg Castle, where he was treated like a nobleman but in solitary confinement and died in the fire that destroyed the building on New Year's Day later. The Christian's consort, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (1511–1571), and his children were remained to live peacefully in their residence at Haderslevhus (or Hansborg), the name of a royal castle that once stood in the Danish city of Haderslev, at that time one of the main trading centres in Southern Jutland. Christian's children were the problem: infact Christian and Dorothea had a daughter, Anne, born on 22 November 1532, and a son, the very problem because a possible pretender to the crown, Frederick, born on 1 July 1534 Haderslevhus Castle. Fortunately the little prince died of cholera on 4 July 1539 [«The great seasons of choleraic disease in the 16th century were the years 1539-40, (which were remarkable all over Europe for dysentery as well), 1557-58, 1580-82, and probably 1596. The term commonly used in that period was a choleric lask, which meant "profluvium". In some, if not in all, of those seasons there was unusual heat and drought» (Charles Creighton, «A History of Epidemics in Britain. From the Extinction of Plague to the Present Time», (2013)].
Because Dorothea was interested in politics (although it is unclear exactly how much influence she had), she has accepted to marry Christian on 1 October 1536.
We suppose that Christian has taken stably and so unchallenged also the crown of Sweden in Halmstad, where, during Kalmar Union, the king has been finally selected. The Kalmar Union was fully restored so undisputed in all its strength, splendor and announced a new era of peace and prosperity for the Scandinavian countries.
Has grown so the popular myth that has reminded Christian II of Denmark to be known as «Christian den Gode» (Christian the Good), and in some versions as «Kristian den folkkäre» (Christian folk's dear) or «Kristian bondevän» (Christian farmer's friend). Christian was far ahead of his time in his social reforms against the nobility and the (temporal) Church's power for the benefit of citizens and farmers. There is no doubt that Christian was a very talented and forward person who, however, often has failed in their intentions. Christian II was primarily bourgeois king. He established a trading company with Malmö and Copenhagen as main campuses against power of Hanseatic League. The citizens of Malmö and Copenhagen were those who always supported him until the very end. Among the farmers he has periodically been popular because of the social reforms he implemented. On the other hand, however, his foreign policy injured exports and hence peasants' economy. The increased tax burden and the disarmament of the peasants made him unpopular with time.
Christian was now calm, honest, sober and with chivalrous character evidence. But he was now matured into an independent man who with great calm and prudence founded the new regime. With moderation, he spent the greater power that was put into his hand, and little by little he managed to emancipate themselves of his bonds toward the High Councils of the three realms.
Prince Frederick of the Palatinate, Christian II's son-in-law, who had participated skillfully and successfully in the Danish civil war supporting the forces of Count Christopher of Oldenburg, he was officially recognized as the heir of the three crowns.
After the death of Frederick of the Palatinate in 1556, it rose again the problem of succession.
Christian II decided immediately to give a new husband to his daughter Dorothea and were combined the wedding with John (1521–1580), «one-third duke» of Schleswig and Holstein[1] and Christian II's first cousin, causing the jealousy of the Queen Dorothea, who had fallen in love with this her relative already during her first marriage, and wished to marry him after her second husband's death. Instead Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568), widow of King Frederick I and mother of John, saw a very positive this marriage as the realization of her desire to see her son on the throne: in fact she has sought to work for his son as leader of the Catholic party against her stepson Christian (III), leader of the Lutheran party. Sophie maintained a independent rule over her fiefs Lolland and Falster, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in Holsten.
John seemed destined to play a large role as The Danish statesman.
The High Councils of the three realms had promised at Christian II to take John to be king after his, joined at his elder daugther Dorothea.
Furthermore John from the wedding had living in the Copenhagen Castle together with Dorothea because the Councils had not appreciated the previous (expensive) life of her and Frederick of the Palatinate in Germany and traveling around the Europe.
As soon Christian II died (25 January 1559), John and Dorothea were recognized undisturbed as joint sovereigns in Halmstad (where, during Kalmar Union, the king has been finally selected), as John II, King of Denmark and Norway, and John III as King of Sweden, and Dotothea in the Kalmar Union. They were finally crowned in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen on 20 August 1559.

[1] Between his retourn to the throne and until the Treaty of Speyer, concluded on 23 May 1544, King Christian II of Denmark ruled the entire Duchies of Holstein and of Schleswig also in the name of his cousins John and Adolf, sons of Frederick I and half-brothers of Christian III. The Treaty (or Peace) of Speyer was signed between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire. Christian II had imposed heavy tolls on the Sound and two other channels between the North Sea and the Baltic sea, in an effort to end the Dutch dominance of trade in the Baltic region. Under pressure from Emperor Charles V, he agreed to exempt the Dutch ships from these tolls and give them free and unfettered access to the Baltic. The Treaty of Speyer dictated Christian II's foreign policy for the rest of his life. He kept Denmark at peace, refusing to involve the country in Protestant-Catholic conflicts such as the Schmalkaldic War of 1546. In 1544, then, Christian II and his cousins partitioned the Duchies of Holstein (a fief of the Holy Roman Empire) and of Schleswig (a Danish fief) in an unusual way, following negotiations between their and the Estates of the Realm of the duchies, which had constituted in 1460 by the Treaty of Ribe and strictly opposed a factual partition. The revenues of the duchies were divided into three equal shares by assigning the revenues of particular areas and landed estates to each of the dukes. Other general revenues, such as taxes from towns and customs duties, were levied together and then shared among the dukes. As dukes of Holstein and Schleswig the three dukes bore the formal title of "Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Ditmarsh and Stormarn". John ruled from Haderslev Castle and later built Hansborg Castle in his hometown, a magnificent Renaissance castle, situated east of the city. Adolf has selected the part with the castle Gottorp, and so founded a cadet branch of the royal Danish House of Oldenburg called the House of Holstein-Gottorp (The dynastic name Holstein-Gottorp comes as convenient usage from the technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp). The King and his elder cousins determined for their youngest brother Frederick a career as (Catholic or Lutheran) administrator of an ecclesiastical state within the Holy Roman Empire (In 1551 Frederick became administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim). The "share" of John, which was not joined to the "Royal share" at John's accesion to the throne, when he died in 1580, was halved between Adolf and Christian II's second daughter Christina.
King John had a clear sense of his own gifts and duties as sovereign, and drove directly the kingdoms without surrendering the management to others. Beside these qualities stand out in him a hearty and pleasantry friendliness, paired with grand insistence of his own dignity, and just as his wife Dorothea cradled himself in great dreams of greatness. The Renaissance's strong zest for life and desire for outgoing life were well represented in John: always he was a avid horseman in around for the chase, organizer of celebrations with splendor and glory,, pleased to visit his kinsmen... The twenty years of John and Dotothea's reign is well known as a beautiful period in Denmark's history. The uninterrupted peace produces a flowering in all directions and raising on their lands most prestige.
Now seemed to be realized hopes of Denmark's dominion in the Baltic and the North. Danish warship's fleets keep the waters clean from strangers ships: the Baltic was becoming increasingly an inland sea of the Union. As under Christian II's governing, it was continued the steadily and major expansion of the Crown's financial sphere, so that financial condition at the end of John and Dotothea's government was extremely good.
John and Dorothea were grand seigneurs in their relations to the Science and the Arts, with the supporting of talented scientists as Tycho Brahe, Anders Sørensen Vedel and others. Were his workmanship the «Kommunitetet» [in OTL by King Frederick II on 1 May 1569], the wonderful castle at the entrance to Øresund [Kronborg, immortalized as Elsinore in the «Hamlet» of Shakespeare] due to his taste for the grandiose and the beautiful, as well as Hansborg [in OTL Frederiksborg], attached to his name and his joys.
Queen Dorothea died as a 59-years-old on 31 May 1580 at Antvorskov Abbey.
King John II/III died the same year on 1 October,at the age of 54 years, at Hansborg Castle, Haderslev, after a short time sick-bed on the journey from Copenhagen to Haderslev,
Their coincident deaths aroused general sorrow in the Kingdoms.
Christina, Dorothea's sister, was recognized as queen, as well as for her rights, also because her eldest son has declined the offer of the crown made to him by the national Councils because subject to the waiver of his Duchy of Lorraine. Charles of Lorraine was more committed about the chimera of the crown of France[1] than about the certitude of the crowns of the Union, as we shall see.
Charles of Lorraine was the most handsome prince of his age. «God gave him this beauty and fresh air worthy of the sovereign power, and if he was not sovereign for birth, he would have been for his good looks. Countless people went to Paris to court him or for the pleasure of seeing him. All the princes of Europe wanted to have his portrait, also Murad III, Emperor of the Turks, wanted to bring one every year».
From which she was departed, on learning the death of his sister Dorothea, for Denmark with a luxury and spectacular cortege to meet her brother-in-law John at Hansborg Castle, Haderslev. With his death, she became finally Queen as «Chrétienne, par la Grace de Dieu, Royne de Dennemarck, Suede, Norwegen» (her motto was «Without me, everything perishes»). She was reached a few years later by her younger daughter Dorothea, widowed of the German prince Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

[1] At this time, the civil war became a war of succession. Henry III was the last male living of his House. Louise Vaudémont had not given him a child and the branch of the Valois was soon to die. What would be the heir? The first prince of the blood was now Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre. But he was a Calvinist, and it was wondered if his kinship that made him descend to twenty-two degrees by St. Louis, was sufficient, since he would have to primarily defender the Catholic faith. Was it not necessary to overshoot this outdated and very questionable rights? Was there not, apart from the leader of the Huguenots, other heir to whom confer the best interests of the national religion? Some said that this prince so desirable was in the House of Lorraine, others saw this in Spain where the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II, has had for mother Elisabeth of France, daughter Henry II. Catherine de' Medici had supported the rights of his grandson, born of the union of his daughter Claude and Charles III of Lorraine.
In 1589 Charles III of Lorraine had succumbed to the long pressures of mother Christina, and he went in Copenhagen. Queen Christina was sick and felt next her end.
The national Councils asked the certainty of an heir. An heir who resided in the country, who knew him, that it would help the peace and prosperity, and that, therefore, was not involved in the government of a foreign country, or worse, involved in a war of succession to get another crown.
Charles III would have to choose: either the chimera of the French Crown, or the certainty of the Crowns of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
If Charles had refused, the national Councils were ready to turn to Charles' sister, Dorothea, widow of the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg.
Charles broke any hesitation and he departed for Denmark.
Already before the events of Blois and the assassination of Henry III he has understood the ambitions of the Duke of Mayenne and the son of «Le Balafré».
He cooled toward the League, placed himself on the reserve and confined himself to defend its borders, leaving his son to follow the destiny of the Duchy of Lorraine.
When the Cardinal de Bourbon, who had been proclaimed king by the name of Charles X, had died on 9 May 1590, and that the issue of succession to the throne was brought in front at the Estates General of Paris, Charles III thought seriously assert the rights of his house, but does, however, only weakly. His agent, Christophe de Bassompierre, presented at basis of this claim, a memoir written by Thierry Alix, sire de Vroncourt, where were exposed the titles of the house of Lorraine. This document reflected the arguments of genealogists tracing the origin of the dukes of Lorraine, some from Clodio, other from Charlemagne.
Henry of Lorraine, son of Charles III of Lorraine, still Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson, heir of the duchy but already, in effect, reigning duke, had as the mother Claude of France, Henry II's daughter, sister of the last three kings, and he will undoubtedly was the heir of blood to most close at Henri III. That which was opposed to the Prince of Lorraine was only a strict application of the monarchical law, that is to say, the Salic law.
No doubt that the Estates General, the ultimate purpose of which were the interests of the kingdom, would probably have selected the candidate that would bring the most determined benefits to the country. Even if the higher principle of the sovereignty of the nation (as we profess today) would have been recognized in the sixteenth century, the problem was not resolved by a kind of conclusion of inadmissibility of this candidature. It would not have escaped, infact, at the assembly that the advent of a Prince of Lorraine as King of France would provide a considerable territorial expansion, since, in the wish of Charles III, the choise of his son should lead at the crown the annexation of a great province, inhabited by a first-class military race, and hopefully closer to the limit of the Rhine, towards which tended French national policy.
The House of Lorraine could have reign over a France closer to reach its natural borders with the eldest son of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, and over the three Scandinavian kingdoms and their growing wealth and power with one of the minor children.
However, that the Estates General had not even considered the candidature of Henry of Lorraine. The compelling and legitimate concern of the moment was indeed to put an end to the civil wars and operate the appeasement of the spirits. Henry of Navarre was been seen as the only one that, if he abjured his Protestant heretical faith to embrace the True Faith (in reality it was hoped in a freedom of beliefs and cults), could have restore into the State the peace, desirable and definitive solution
The House of Lorraine appeared to have been too engaged in the League for to offer the same guarantees.
Charles, now King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and his son Henry, did not insist and recognized the Bourbon king.
But they tried to gain some advantage of peace.
If you are interested in this subject, you can view:

Janus Møller Jensen, «Denmark and the Crusades: 1400-1650», (2007).
Martina Sprague, «Sweden: An Illustrated History», (2005).
Ole Peter Grell, «The Scandinavian Reformation: From Evangelical Movement to Institutionalisation of Reform», (1995).
Kenneth Steffensen, «Scandinavia After the Fall of the Kalmar Union: A Study in Scandinavian Relations, 1523-1536», (thesis of 2007).
Lester B. Orfield, «The Growth of Scandinavian Law», (1953).
Durant Will, «The Reformation; a history of European Civilization, 1300-1564. Part VI of The Story of Civilization», (1957).
Ottosen Knud, «A Short History of the Churches of Scandinavia», (1986).
Skarsten Trygve R., «The Scandinavian Reformation; Ramifications for Lutheran confessional identity», (1999).
Hubertus Thomas Leodius, «De vita et rebus gestis Friderici II», (1624).
Émile Duvernoy, «Chrétienne de Danemark, duchesse de Lorraine», (1940).
Tore Nyberg, «Christian II og militæret», (1979).
E. William Monter, «A Bewitched Duchy: Lorraine and Its Dukes, 1477-1736», (2007).
Hugues Daussy, «Les huguenots et le roi: le combat politique de Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, 1572-1600», (2002).
Jacques Berchtold, Marie-Madeleine Fragonard, «La mémoire des guerres de religion: la concurrence des genres historiques, XVIe-XVIIIe siècles», (2007).
 
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I realize this question has been posed before, but it didn't really go anywhere, so I'm gonna ask it again.

What might have happened with Crown Prince Hans of Denmark (b. 1518) (brother to the more famous Duchess of Milan) if he had lived? He was the son of a Catholic father and a mother who reportedly was attracted to the Reformation (the Hapsburgs deny this and claim she died a convinced Catholic). His one sister married a Catholic (Christine, Duchess of Milan and Lorraine) while another married a Protestant (Dorothea, Electress Palatine).

Was Frederick II of the Palatinate an open Protestant at the time of the marriage? His older brother remained a Catholic, no?
 
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